


Under the silvery, fluorescent lights...

by ConnorProject2K17



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2018), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: April knows and she's okay, Casey is bi and he's okay with this, Human AU, M/M, They have instagram, and an ice dancer, and they all live happily ever after, casey is latino, let's just assume there were no wars, no one died, the turtles are half-black half-japanese
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-07
Packaged: 2019-08-14 08:10:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16488893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConnorProject2K17/pseuds/ConnorProject2K17
Summary: Donnie's discovered the cure to make him, his brother and his father human. Around the same time Casey just so happens to fall in love with a handsome stranger. What are the chances?





	1. ~Soulmates~or nah?

The familiar stench of the sewers seemed almost overpowering, seeping through Donnie’s beak and into his mind.

The pale glimmer of piss flew around him and he sprinted down the tunnels, feet landing in the low river, that Mikey insisted was just water.

It wasn’t.

But just how bad his home smelled was nothing to Donatello, his thoughts awake with nothing but the large canister clenched in his hand.

 

* * *

 

He had been scavenging around the garbage dump, and came across an unusual amount of Francium, a radioactive liquid element. Never one to pass up an opportunity, Donnie grabbed as much as he could, and made his way back to his lab.

He had never worked with Francium before, and given that he seemed to have an overflowing amount, he mixed it with as much as possible, just to see the results.

The first hour had been him just messing around, putting in everything from Carbon Dioxide, to ice cream. But the second hour…

The second hour he’d discovered something.

If you mix Francium, cesium, gallium, rubidium, you get something…

Amazing.

At first Donnie had been unsure, not certain whether what he’d found was real. It couldn’t be. It was just messing with him; supplying false hope.

He dropped a small amount into Ice Cream Kittie’s food tray, and waited for the results; camera at the ready.

Ice Cream Kitty licked at their bowl, yowled a bit, and then curled up into a ball.

And then disappeared under a blinding ray of light.

Donatello squeezed his eyes shut underneath his goggles, and turned away, clutching his camera with ready fingers. Whatever this was. Whatever was going on; he had to accept and record it. This could change everything for him and his family.

The light eventually faded away, and left a small ball behind.

Carefully pushing up his goggles, Donnie peered around his camera, and at the quivering lump on the floor.

It was a small child.

Androgynous.

Race uncertain.

Different shades of vitiligo crossing across every patch of skin.

Donatello stared for only a moment, before grabbing at his computer, and typing furiously.

It seemed like an hour before he felt he had everything down, he turned back to the child.

Oh god, there was a child on his floor.

He really hadn’t thought ahead on this one.

Getting down on his hands and knees, removing his goggles and placing them on the floor, Donnie peered at the child.

The child looked up. They had small eyes. One eye was black. The other was covered in a patch of light vitiligo, and was pink.

They opened their mouth, and Donnie winced slightly, preparing for the oncoming scream.

The child meowed instead.

Donnie blinked at them, and slowly reached forward.

What was going on? Ice Cream Kitty was… human now? He’d sort of been expecting this, but by Mutagen, he hadn’t thought it could happen.

And now it was real.

Mutants could turn human.

Scooping the child in his arms, Donnie realised a little too late that the child was naked. As evident by the thin stream of piss trickling down his chest.

Ice Cream Kitty (child) meowed again, sounding suspiciously like a laugh. Donnie glared at them, and placed them on his bed, wrapping them up in blankets.

Making 100% sure that Ice Cream Baby was going to be safe, Donnie grabbed the canister of his experiment, and dashed out the door.

 

* * *

 

And now here he was, swerving this way and that through the maze of tunnels, searching for the perfect hiding place.

If this could work for him, it could change his family forever. But if not, he couldn’t give anyone false hope. It would crush his brothers, and his father…

They could be a real family.

Unscrewing the top, Donnie lifted the canister to his lips, and tipped it towards him…

Before quickly putting it back.

He would have to get clothes first.

* * *

 

Scavenging through the dump once again, Donatello finally managed to find some clothes, both for himself, and Ice Cream Baby.

There was a light pink pajama top, decorated with a smiling, cartoon star on top, found underneath a broken television. And some childs gym shorts, with only a few tears in the fabric. Donnie had no clue whether these would fit the small child, but they were relatively clean, and about the same size.

No for the bigger problem; clothes for himself.

Obviously he wouldn’t have a shell when he’s human (he hoped), so he’d have to get clothes a lot slimmer than he was now. But he’d have to take into account his muscles, plus his monstrous height.

At eighteen, he’d already grown to Master Splinter’s height, a full seven feet tall. His bo had quickly become to short for him, and instead of buying a new one ( which they couldn’t do for obvious reasons), Donnie was fine just sticking extra bits of wood and technology on top.

But that still left the problem, that it was going to be somewhat tricky finding clothes that could possibly fit him.

It took three hours, and a lot of searching, but eventually Donatello was able to find some things close to his size. He couldn’t try them on, because whatever fit him in this body, presumably wouldn’t fit in his human body. Presumably.

It occurred to him as he was pulling up an ugly purple jumper with flowers along the side, that he could have just asked April to buy him something. However, that would cause her to ask questions, and he couldn’t have anyone knowing about this until he was sure it could work.

Eventually he came up with a jumper, a pair of shorts with way too many pockets, and some enormous black boots. He wouldn’t know what foot size he’d have, so he just looked for the biggest size. These were a size twelve, and a complete pain to carry.

Still, it would all be worth it. Just as soon as he got back home.

* * *

Donnie’s eyes followed the small pink curds floating in his canister. The whole thing looked less like food and more like a novelty lava lamp. 

He swallowed thickly. Oh well. He’d put Ice Cream Baby through this, it was only fair he did the same. For science. And for his family.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Donnie lifted the canister towards him, and took a small sip.

Huh. It didn’t really taste like anyth-

And then everything went white.

It wasn’t a blinding white, like looking at the sun, more as though he had stepped into a room with walls made out of paper.

He tried to look down at his hands, but all he could see was more white. It was like he didn’t even exist.

Oh god, a voice spoke up suddenly, what if you get stuck like this? What if you have to live in this world forever. Has your existence been erased? Where even are yo-

And then the room came back.

* * *

 

Donnie looked down, and saw his hands.

His hands!

He had hands!

They were brown, and long, what Sensei would call ‘Piano Hands’. His fingernails were short and chipped, and his skin felt coarse.

Donnie moved his hands out of the way, and saw his own body.

Oh shit, he was naked.

Panic shot through his mind, and he scrambled to his feet (he hadn’t even realised he was on the floor), Donnie’s hand shot out and grabbed a cushion from a chair, and used it to cover his crotch.

Oh god. Oh no. Oh dear. It was so cold. Was it supposed to be this cold? Had it always been this cold? Was April this cold whenever she entered the lab? Was that why she never-

Oh right. Clothes.

Taking hesitant steps forward, Donnie watched as his new feet padded across the floor, until they reached the pile of clothes he’d dumped in the corner. Human feet were just so much weirder than turtle ones. 

Thinking back to those videos he’d seen, where people undressed (shut up, he was a teenager, and the only one with a laptop), he tried to remember how they did it. But in reverse.

The jumpers material was coarse against his skin, and he shivered slightly. There had been only one shirt he had found that might have fit his frame, but it had pretty racist overtones, and he’d quickly thrown it away. Still, the jumper would have to do, even if it hugged his arms a little too tightly, and he had to keep pulling up the shoulder. It would do.

The shorts were next, and he was pretty annoyed to find they didn’t fit either. He could barely keep them in place if he held them up, but they still revealed a lot of his thighs and waist. Great.

Oh shit he’d forgotten underwear.

Dammit. Oh well, it wasn’t like he’d have been able to known what ‘size’ he’d need as a human. Turtle dicks and human dicks are wildly different (which he’d come to know after some pretty extensive research).

Master Splinter had once had to borrow his laptop, and afterwards quickly sat him down for ‘A talk’.

He explained that porn usually exaggerated things, and that the mens body types shown in those videos were not the norm for what anyone should expect. Donnie hadn’t had the heart to tell him he’d been watching the men's bodies for completely _ other  _ reasons.

Anyway.

So, he was human now. 

* * *

 

A million thoughts scrambled through his head; a list of all the things he could do, places he could go, people he might meet, that he hadn’t been able to do before.

Go to the Empire State Building?

Get in a taxi?

Order a pizza  _ up front? _

Go shopping?

Wait, shopping. Hadn’t April said Casey had started a job at some shopping store near the sewers?

Donnie’s mind began to wander; what if he went to the store? He wouldn’t buy anything, just see if he was recognised. Check if there were any kinks in his project, anything that set him apart from other humans. If worse came to worse and there was, he could always explain to Casey what was going on.

Picking up some money, Donnie slide open his lab door, and peaked out. No one was home; Splinter was having a day with Karai (they’d been having a load of those lately), and his brothers were out on patrol. Plus it was three in the morning, so there was no way April would be up.

Straightening out his jumper, and pulling up his shorts-again-Donnie headed into the tunnels, ready to step out into New York.

  
  


  
  


 


	2. Okay, this story is actually going somewhere...

The electric blue glow of the overhead lights made Casey’s eyes water. God, he was so tired.

Why had he even taken this job? He didn’t even _do_ anything.

Oh yeah, because he thought it would be an easy paycheck. Just dick around from 9 in the afternoon ‘till three in the morning, piddle about on his phone and waltz out the door the next day.

Except, the damn manager of this stupid store told him he wasn’t allowed to go on his phone. As the only cashier working at these hours, Casey would be the first and only face customers would see when they walk in, and he had to look professional. If there were others working with him, maybe then they’d be able to dick around together.

Ugh, _why_ hadn’t April come to the job interview with him?!

Right, because Donnie was too busy removing his lips from her ass for her to even notice anyone else.

The door’s gave a crisp *ding*, and Casey lazily turned his head to stare at whoever thought it was acceptable to come in at this godforsaken hour.

And then choked as he felt his pulse double in speed.

Someone had just walked in. A man by the looks of it. A man with piercing red eyes, and legs like stilts and a jaw that could grate cement.

A man who was coming towards him.

Oh shit.

Casey jolted up in his seat, and attempted to sit up straighter. The bumps of his spine popped as he moved, and he winced.

“Are you okay sir?” he called out to the man.

Dammit. He was supposed to say ‘how can I help you?’. He was making himself look like an idiot.

“I-I mean, er, I mean do you need, um, need help?”

Mother of mutagen! He felt a hot blush crawl down his face and over his chest. It felt like his heart was boiling in blood. Ew, gross imagery.

The man blinked at Casey with those dreamy rose eyes, and turned away. Soft black hair, delicately draped over his shoulders, moved like a gentle breeze across his back.

Oh man. Casey hadn’t thought of such poetic bullshit since he met April. He needed to put a stop to this.

Carefully opening the drawer underneath his cash register, he pulled out his phone. Yeah, his manager would tell him off later when he checked the security cameras, but Casey didn’t care right now. He just needed a distraction from this weirdly, irritatingly, infuriatingly hot guy.

Opening his messages, he saw nine texts. All from April.

Shit.

‘Casey did u start yur new job 2day?’

‘U havnt answrd in a hour, so i’m assumig no.’

‘Casey r u ok? U usuly answr imeditely.’

‘Has somting hapend?’

‘R u hurt???’

‘Do u have ur wepons on u???!!!’

‘Casey Jones I am sikick I can an wil chek wher u r’

‘O shit yur @ yur job.’

‘Soz bro’

Casey sucked in a breath. Shiiiiit. He hadn’t meant to worry her.

Since April went back to school, and her training became more difficult, she’s been more on edge on ever. He should have sent her a quick update.

Looking up from his phone, he saw the hot customer browsing through the magazine section, and sent April a text.

‘Hey u. Im @ wrk. Sux. reeeelly hot guy heer tho. Like, super-duper Bradley Cooper levels hot’

He hit send, and searched through his insta for a bit. Less than a minute later, his notifications went off. Great thing about being a phychic; April always knew when she got a text, whether she had her phone on her or not.

‘Pics or it didnt hapen’.

Shitty shit with extra fucks on top.

Casey looked back up to the guy. He had his back to him, bent over at the waist slightly, hands in his pockets. He was looking at the jewellery section.

His ass looked so perfect like that.

Casey’s mind came skidding to a halt. What the hell, he couldn’t think like that! He didn’t even knew if the other guy was gay! Or his age!

He had a young face. And a couple of zits, from what Casey remembered. But he was about… seven feet tall. And had muscles like an underwear model. A lanky one at that.

Ooooh, best not to think about his underwear. Casey shifted awkwardly in his seat.

Carefully pulling at his phone, Casey turned to camera mode, made sure the customer, and his perfect ass were in frame, and pressed the button.

The resounding *click* echoed through the entire store.

And ever so slowly, the customer turned around to stare at Casey, who was frozen in place, his camera still pointed at the ready.

Casey smiled so wide his face almost split, and turned back to his camera, ruffled his own hair and took another photo.

Perfect, it would look like he was taking a selfie. And he could snag some extra pictures.

He took pic after pic, turning his face this way and that to elevate the lie, all the while the guy turned back and disappeared behind an aisle.

Once he was sure the guy was gone, Casey picked the best photos (only seven out of thirteen) and sent them to April’s instagram. Her reply was instant.

@AprilMayJune;

Cute. Good ass. Hot face. Fukin stupd cloths. Yur age?

@HeroInANutShell;

VERY cute! Hot as fuk. Like, clasicaly handsom? An his clothes ar dope. Dont no. havnt spokn 2 him.’

@AprilMayJune;

Wht r u doin?! Snatch him up or I wil! Talk 2 him budy! U got this!’

Casey took a deep breath, and looked up from his phone. The guy was still nowhere to be found. And the doors hadn’t *dinged* so he hadn’t left yet.

Casey looked back at the pictures he’d sent. He clicked on his favourite.

The guy was staring directly into the phone, looking confused. One hand was lifted, and the other was still in his pocket. He was twisted around, from where he was looking at the jewellery.

April was right; he did have pretty stupid-looking clothes though.

A violet jumper, with purple flowers stitched along the sides. It hung down at his shoulder, but stopped above his stomach. Casey wasn’t sure it was a fashion statement, or just because they didn’t make clothes in his size.

Next were the combat shorts. Green, with about thirty pockets. Each filled to the brim with something or other. They looked like you could easily hide a country in there. The shorts hung down at the waist, revealing not only green underwear (Down Casey), but also a long, thin line of hair along his stomach, down into his-

Finally were army boots. They weren’t too weird, aside from the steel encasing each sole.

Casey enlarged the image and stared at his face. He was Asian, had dark skin, and long straight hair. Red eyes (somehow), and his mouth was slightly open, revealing gapped teeth.

Casey sighed dreamily as he stared at the image. Tall, muscular, and gapped teeth… he was so gorgeous.

The guy ended up not buying anything, just nodded at Casey on his way out, and disappeared out the doors. Casey was too embarrassed to say anything, and just stared after him.

He realised a little too late that with pockets the size of Russia, the guy was probably in there to steal something.

He ran to the doors, but the streetlamps showed nothing but an empty care park.

Sighing, Casey turned to go and watch the security tapes. Oh well, at least it’d give him a good excuse to stare the guys face again.

 

* * *

Donnie couldn’t believe his luck. Casey hadn’t noticed him. At all! At one point he’d heard Casey take a picture of him (and poorly attempt to disguise it as a selfie), and immediately thought he had been caught. Oh god, did he have a tail? A shell? Had he somehow gone through a series of hallucinations and just  _ thought _ he was human?

But Casey didn’t attempt to talk to him at mutagen, or ninjutsu, or shells. He’d just watched him, with wide dark eyes, and mumbled whatever words he was instructed to say.

And as Donnie watched the other from his spot behind an aisle of cat food, he examined Casey’s behaviour. It was all just so… familiar.

Avoiding eye contact? Check.

Stumbling over words? Yup.

Blushing? Yes-in-dee-dee.

Oh god. A horrifying cold stone dropped in Donnie’s stomach as a realization hit him like a ton of bricks. 

That was how he acted around April. That was how  _ Casey _ acted around April.

This was how Casey’s acting around  _ Donnie _ .

Oh no, oh no, oh no.

Stepping back to hide behind a wall of chew toys, Donnie thought over what he knew.

One he’d known he was attracted to April, Donnie had done a lot of extensive research into what qualified as ‘love’. There was the obvious; blushing and heartbeats and making a fool of yourself. Donnie had got all of that covered.

(‘And so does Casey,’ a wicked little voice in his head told him. He quickly shut that thought down)

But there were also a few smaller details one didn’t think about. You smile with your mouth open. Your pupils increase. You sweat a tremendous degree.

Again, Donnie had done pretty much all of that.

But Casey…

 

Standing up to his full tremendous height, Donnie stepped out from where he was observing (not hiding), and made his way out of the store. His eyes locked on Casey.

Casey’s forehead was shiny with sweat under the overhead lights, and Donnie could see patches through his uniform.

He gave a wide smile, showing his teeth.

And his pupils were so dark, his eyes seemed nearly black.

Donnie nodded, not really knowing what else to do, and made his escape out the store doors.

…

Shit.

  
  



	3. Alcohol and Hugs

****

Master Splinter’s thin arms wrapped around Donnie’s wide frame, and squeezed him tight. They stood that way for a moment, just caught in the relief and euphoria, until his brothers finally joined in, all sobbing with delight.

Donnie had told them about the cure. It had been met with silence and disbelief at first, until he gave them a demonstration, and now, three hours later, they were all still celebrating.

Someone (Donnie honestly couldn’t tell who) and brought out a bottle of Japanese wine, and everyone had had a go. Even Splinter, who believed in a ‘strict morale diet, as all ninja’s much live by’ had his fair share, and became a blubbering, grateful mess. They all had, really.

After much, much partying, they all finally calmed down enough for Donnie to give a thorough (albeit clumsy and drunken) explanation of how the cure works;

How long it lasts depends on how much you take, ergo while a teaspoon may last an hour, a dessert spoon while last a day.

There is no telling of how you will look as a human, but you cannot change it (other than the obvious, like changing weight, or getting a tattoo or something).

As Donnie had no clue if they were all related, they might not all look alike (something Mikey became very, very upset about, and needed another glass of wine to calm down over).

When Donnie had finished, Splinter told them they were too intoxicated to use it, lest something bad happen, and to wait until tomorrow when they had sobered up. This time it was Leo who got upset, and needed his own glass.

As Donnie tucked a slobbering, still crying Mikey into bed, he smile to himself. Tomorrow he and his brothers, and their father, were all going out into the city. As humans. Maybe they would ask April to come with. Maybe Karai. Maybe Casey.

A reminder of what happened at the store came flooding back, and Donnie’s smile dropped. He stumbled off to his lab, and collapsed onto the leather chair.

That was for tomorrow.

And he closed his eyes.


	4. New York, WHAT dreams are made of, not where

****

To Donnie’s surprise, they had looked fairly similar. They all had dark skin (although, the shade changed from turtle to turtle. Donnie had the lightest, then Mikey, then Leo, and Raph).

They all had black hair. Their eyes were the same as before, as were their body types and height, and they were all Asian.

The first few moments had been stalled by Donnie realising (oh yeah, clothes) and scurrying off to the dump to collect some. Although this time he had the measurements for each person, and could things that really fitted.

And so, with suspiciously torn and dirty clothing, the four brothers and their father stepped out of the manhole cover, and into New York.

And were immediately almost hit by a car. 

Screaming, they jumped out of the way, and onto the pavement. Someone leant out of the car window to yell at them, before disappearing around a corner. Donnie looked around, scared someone might notice their weird behaviour, but everyone just kept walking. It was true what they say; New Yorker’s really think they’ve seen everything.

Mikey spent his time rushing from shop window to shop window; admiring every display he never got to see in the night. 

Leo found a park bench, and just observed everyone as they went about their day. Despite keeping a fairly neutral expression, his eyes followed every movement he could catch.

Raph just spent the day casually sliding up to groups of teenagers and trying to make conversation. Most of them just gave him dirty looks at his dirty clothes, short stature, and obvious smell, but somehow Raph didn’t get too angry. His eyes just gleamed everytime anyone said a word to him.

Donnie trailed Master Splinter. Being seven feet tall, they stood out like sore thumbs, and Donnie just wanted to feel safe. True, every phone, laptop or ipad caught his attention, and he would have given anything to go over and interrogate the people using them, but for now he just wanted to get used to his surroundings. 

Master Splinter, much like Raph, tried to start up conversations. And, despite his rather grubby appearance, he was much more intune with actual conversations with real people. Although the street vendor did give him a weird look when Splinter nearly cried, when she told him ‘You have a lovely accent sir’.

Eventually the sun went down, and Donnie had to text everyone to tell them the ‘spell’ as Mikey had put it, was going to wear off soon. 

But as his family sneaked into the quiet alleyway to get back into the sewers, Donnie turned and headed in the other direction…

...he was going to the ice rink.

 


	5. Uh Oh

The ice rink was practically empty, with nothing but a few coloured spotlights lighting Donnie’s way. He eventually found a seat, far at the back, and waited.

From what he knew, April was here too. She had invited him to come and watch Casey practise for his next performance, but he’d turned it down at the time. Why tease himself with a practise when he couldn’t even watch the real thing?

But now, he could.

But he still would quite like to see the practise.

It was quite a while before Casey actually came out, and when he did, he made quite the show of it.

The doors were flung open like a matador entering the ring, and Casey practically fung himself onto the ice.

And Donnie’s heart stopped. 

Casey was…

Was…

Why there wasn’t even a word invented for how gorgeous he looked.

He had a skin-tight red costume on, if you could even call it that. It looked like the world’s finest silks had been draped across his body, swaddling him in bright jewels and sequins. His usually curly black hair was slicked back, his face powdered in heavy makeup. Somehow making him seem feminine and masculine at the same time. Passive, yet aggressive. The damsel in distress, and the villain. Powerless, and in control.

Donnie’s heart pounded against his chest, his pulse slamming in his ears. Casey looked like royalty. His body moved like an angel, arms swaying yet stabbing through the air, legs cutting across the ice, cloth moving around him like swans feathers. A ballerina, flying and falling through the air.

And then the music ended, and so did Casey.

Donnie didn’t even realise he’d turned back, but suddenly his shell was weighing down on his back, and he couldn’t wiggle his toes anymore. But he couldn’t really feel sad. Just the weightless sensation of watching Casey’s body carry itself over to where April was sitting. 

And Donnie realised with doubtless dread, that he was in bigger shit, then he realised.

 

**Author's Note:**

> my tumblr @myaphroditus, and come and tell me what you think :)


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